Victoria

Wow, I have seen so many beautiful places over the last few days that it is hard to put this into words. We have been so lucky to know people in the places we have visited. Here in Victoria Véro's friends, Kim and Heather, gave us the royal treatment. We had some fabulous meals and we visited some great parks and lookout spots. I'll try to remember some names without looking back at photos: Craigdarroch Castle, Mount Douglas Park and Brentwood Bay (for some drinks). That was yesterday. Today we walked around the city all day, explored some of the places we missed yesterday.I thought this guy made of pizza pans was pretty cute so I included a picture of him too.

We visited a great Chinese tea shop and had supper in Chinatown too (Canada's oldest Chinatown). We visited Fisherman's Wharf and saw some really neat "houseboats". There were three seals in the harbour that were being hand fed salmon while we took pictures. We had a lovely evening walk downtown and saw the legislature building all lit up with white lights. Quite stunning at night as well as in the day.

Tomorrow we head to Kamloops! Watch out Jeff and Carma, here we come!!

Beautiful British Columbia

It is a sunny Saturday morning and I am taking the time to write my first post from BC. It has been a whirlwind of shopping and tourist attractions thus far. The trip here was long but, thanks to technology, not too boring. I played the sims on my laptop, listened to an audiobook on my ipod and took advantage of the TV screen on the seat in front of me.

On our first day, Vero had some free time and we went to explore Gastown. We took the Skytrain to get downtown from our Richmond hotel. The Skytrain is easy to use and very efficient. We are here at the right time because the "Canada Line" from Richmond opened less than a month ago! Gastown is full of tiny shops mostly overflowing with Olympic merchandise. There were some neat trendy stores as well that reminded us of our friend Geneviève who is an interior designer. (You can see her blog here: http://genevieve-interiordesign.blogspot.com/)

From that point on Vero was pretty busy and I was on my own. I have family on both my mother's and father's side here in the city so I spent some time with them yesterday and the day before. Thursday night my cousin Heather and my uncle Don took me to a restaurant they frequent called "Sala Thai" They knew the menu and ordered some dishes for us to share. It was delicious and it was so wonderful to catch up with family I had not seen in years. Good beer, food and of course great conversation. It was a perfect night!

Yesterday I met up with aunt Trudy, aunt Andrea and cousin Andrew. I took the Skytrain to the Waterfront station where they picked me up. We drove to Whistler and I was in awe of the beauty of this province! I didn't know what to expect at Whistler, I had never been to any of the major Canadian ski resort towns. So cute and better shopping than any mall anywhere near PEI! There was snow in the mountains and we could see the construction going on where the medal podiums will be. The drive there and back was breathtaking and Trudy was kind enough to stop and show us some scenic places and let me take some photos. We went for supper in Chinatown and had a great meal. Trudy and Andrea brought me back to my hotel and I dropped! I am so tired at night with the time change and all. We will have supper with them and lots more of the family next Friday. Looking forward to that too!!

Today will involve a bit of shopping at the Richmond centre this morning and a walk (and maybe a bit more shopping) on Robson street with Vero. I better get started on that now! I'll leave you with a little picture where you can see the grass from some of the ski runs at Whistler.

The fall season is near!

I didn't want to call the post the end of summer though that is what it feels like. The summer shows are now over and I will miss that but now I get some much needed vacation time! This week hasn't felt much like that though, there are too many things going on! Last week of vacation before school starts for my niece and nephews so we are trying to cram lots in there! The picture of my niece Grace with my friend and piano accompanist Mylène was taken at a little bonfire in my back yard! The fish has his own story. He was part of the landscaping at the new house that Mylène and Brent bought last year. Grace got to name him and I think she settled on fishy. Typical 6 year old naming tactic I think. Mylène brought the fish to my house as a little joke for Grace. Grace was HAPPY!

We did a series of shows at the Confederation Centre this summer (we being Mylène Ouellette, Christina Gallant-MacLean, Julie Arsenault and myself. Our sound and light guy James Carrier was one of the best we've worked with, always helpful and most importantly always in a good mood! Here is a little photo taken at our last show.

I'll be back soon with some fall photos!

Little trip to Halifax.

I rarely have time off in the summer so when I happened to have three days in a row it was time for a little trip! We spent one night in Halifax and then drove around the south shore of Nova Scotia. Vero and I both love Halifax and it was a beautiful day. I got to shop at my favorite store "The Freak Lunch Box". If you have never been, it is a candy store and they sell lots of candy that you don't see anywhere else. The old fashioned candy like the pouches of bubble gum and real jawbreakers that last forever. I love the Jelly Belly jelly beans too!

Halifax is such a beautiful city that you can discover just by walking around. We walked along the harbour walkway (and saw Theodore Tugboat) then uptown for a bit. We discovered the Halifax Public Gardens. A lushious, tropical feeling park in the middle of town. The ducks were friendly in the park, you could walk right up to them! I am also throwing in a picture of the Keiths Brewery. It is house in a nice old buildong. We didn't do the tour this time but we have in the past! I'll add some pictures of the rest of the trip, the south shore part, in my next post.

Clack'Azingers Reunite!

It was a wild time. Last Monday we had a reunion of sorts. We got out all the old photos, ate drank and laughed but best of all we had some good tunes, just like old times. For those who might not know, Clack'Azing was a group of young girls who played music together. The group started 10 or 11 years ago and most of the girls still play music now, some professionally. Stephanie even brought her vest that was part of one of the costumes that the girls wore. After supper, we sat out on my deck and got out the fiddles and played some tunes. here are a few pictures of the night.

When we were little we used to hang out at what we called Clark's Pond. It now has an official name, Marchbank's Pond. I don't know if Clark's was really the name before or where it came from. We played and fished there in the summer, caught smelts swimming up the little waterfall and skated there in the winter. Here are a few pictures I took last Sunday. When I got home from the pond I noticed this tall ship passing in front of my house! I think it is the Pride of Baltimore 2. I stopped in the driveway and took a picture. It is quite a sight to see one of these ships going by.

In the garden.

It has been a tough year for the garden so far. I must admit, Vero does most of the garden work. We planted tons of things and most of it didn't grow! So, we re-planted. Things are looking up now. Carrots are starting to come in nicely and here are some pictures of my pepper plants and cherry tomatoes. The flower beds seem to grow like crazy at this time of year. I always think the bed looks empty when I plant and I know that in a couple of weeks there won't be room enough for everything!

Thought you might like to see a little picture from our dinner theatre as well. Christina and Julie all dressed and ready to go! If you want more info about the show check out my website at www.anastasiadesroches.com. I have show dates, times and venues listed on there.

Random Tuesday night drive

What to do on a beautiful evening? Go for a drive of course! We had no planned route, Vero wanted to drive on the Port Hill Station road, that was the only determined part of the drive. As we neared the Egmont Bay church, I decided to take a few pictures. The church is falling apart, it is a sad sight. The photo of the lobster traps comes from Higgins Wharf. The south side lobster season is starting soon! Yum, can't wait.

July 27th Fiddles

The day after...
Two great fiddle weekends in a row! Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival last weekend. In true Rollo Bay style, the music was wonderful and you never know who might show up! This year we were treated to some tunes by Natalie MacMaster. I also met Kimberly Fraser for the first time though I had been a fan of her music. One of my favorite players Troy MacGillivray was also on the bill along with his sister Kendra and Andrea Beaton. Last Thursday I had the opportunity to have some tunes with Andrea at a house party, lost of fun! This past weekend it was closer to home with the Atlantic Fiddlers Jamboree. So many great players and dancers. We got to hear 88 year old Eddy Arsenault play. Here are a few pictures of the two weekends.

Animal Crossing Wii

My new obsession... It is a silly, silly game and I can't get enough. I love all sorts of video games but generally, anything to do with Mario tops my list. On the PC, I adore the Sims games. As for the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy was everything I thought it would be, I loved it. I have never really managed to find other games series, or even games, that I liked as much.

Enter Animal Crossing, now I won't say that I like it as much as Mario Galaxy or anything, but what is it with this game? I can't stop playing!! I need to get all the fish for my museum, I need to get all the kinds of fruit, I want every bug and fossil!!! I am obsessed! Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this? I think I have all the kinds of fruit, I am making an attempt to grow all the trees anyway. I visited someone today (for the first time) and they had all the fruit! I got to take some of each to plant!! Cherries, pears, apples, peaches galore! I already had oranges and coconut.

If you want to visit me, my friend code is:
1762-8140-1244 My name is Anna and I live in Mootown. Leave me your info, we'll be new neighbors!

Haha, silly name I know, but I had to think fast and who would have thought I'd be obsessed enough to blab it all over the internet??

Don't knock it until you've tried it. It looks like a silly little game, but I can't stop....

My poor neglected blog...

It is hard to decide what to write about in a blog. Well, it is for me anyway. I think of all kinds of crafty, creative things I could write about, but never get around to actually doing it. Since I don't update often, I think it is safe to assume that I don't have a regular readership for my blog. That being said, I can pretty much write what I want eh?
I tried doing this before and I really am going to try to have a little more stick-to-itness this time. Yes, I know, I say this every time...
I want to share some sites that I find cool and stuff that I like from around the internet. I find the sites through various sources like: Digg, Stumble and CBC radio's Spark, with Nora Young.
I found these two sites after listening to Spark. I was driving at the time and made myself voice notes with my blackberry so I could remember what they were when I got in front of my computer. I have a horrible memory for these kinds of things.

First: Grooveshark. It is a website where you can listen to almost any music you can think of in streaming audio. Just type in the name of the artist you are looking for(or the song) and you get a list to choose from. Very fun.

Next: Seatguru. If you are taking a trip by plane, you will love this site. You go to the site, find the plane you will be traveling on and it tells you all kinds of things about the plane and your seat in particular. It tells you if you have a power port, a TV, what kind of legroom you get and all kinds of interesting information.

Hope you enjoy checking out these websites.